MSc Emile van Weert MSc

Research:

I am trained as a molecular cell biologist and have conducted most of my research at the crossroads of neurodegeneration and ageing. In this field of research, I have gotten particularly interested in how protein homeostasis is safeguarded by the cellular quality control machineries. Now, I am extending this interest in my PhD where I aim to uncover the fate of proteins in the context of the post-translational modifications ubiquitin and SUMO and determine how this fate changes with disease. Most importantly, I will map interactions of proteins with quality control machineries, and place these interactions in the context of a protein’s lifeline in the cell. These interactions will be crucial for a fundamental understanding of how and when the quality control system fails to manage correct protein synthesis, folding, and degradation under pathological conditions. 

Curriculum Vitae

I completed my BSc in Molecular Life Sciences at Utrecht University with an internship at the lab of Stefan Rüdiger where I studied the binding characteristics of fluorescently-labelled peptides to amyloid fibrils. During my MSc in Molecular and Cellular Life Sciences, I first studied the effect of DNA damage accumulation on the proteastasis capacity and health of neuronal cells at the Hoeijmakers lab in the Prinses Máxima Centrum for pediatric oncology. Finally to conclude my masters programme, I moved to Cologne (Germany) where I joined the lab of Ron Jachimowicz at the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing and studied the proteasome-shuttling factors called ubiquilins and what role they play in repair of DNA double-strand breaks. In December 2024 I started as a PhD candidate at the LUMC under supervision of Alfred Vertegaal and Ilana Berlin.